Articles from July 3, 2017

Engr. Mario A. Balboa, PECE, ACPE, ASEAN Eng., MBA, an alumnus of the UE College of Engineering-Caloocan, has been awarded by the Professional Regulation Commission as the Most Outstanding Professional of the Year in the field of Electronics Engineering. The awarding ceremony was held during PRC Awards Night that was held on June 23, 2017, 5 p.m., at the Fiesta Pavilion of The Manila Hotel.

The Most Outstanding Professional of the Year Award is, per the PRC, “the highest award bestowed by the Commission upon a professional as recommended by his/her peers for having amply demonstrated professional competence of the highest degree and conducted himself/herself with integrity in the exercise of his/her profession, participated meaningfully in the advancement of the profession, and contributed significantly to the effective discharge of the profession’s social responsibility through meaningful contribution/participation in socio-related activities.”

Engr. Balboa, who is a telecoms and information and communications technology professional for over 24 years, had earned his Bachelor of Science in Electronics and Communications Engineering from UE in 1992. He graduated as Valedictorian of the Riyadh On-site Program on Financial and Managerial Accounting for non-accountants and has taken up Master in Business Administration also in Riyadh.

The Saudi Arabia-based Engr. Balboa has been with Saudi Telecom Company, one of the largest telecommunications companies in the Middle East and Africa. He served as its Senior Business Consultant-Analyst from 2004 to 2009 before becoming its Senior Product Development Manager and Technical Adviser from 2009 up to the present.

In the Philippines, Engr. Balboa was a part of Eastern Telecoms from 1995 until 2004, serving as Telecoms Engineer, Senior Business Analyst and Department Head for Operations and Maintenance. He was also Datacoms Engineer for BPI Computer Systems Corporation from 1993 to 1995.

His professional certifications and affiliations include being a Consultant Engineer of the Saudi Council of Engineers (SCE); a member of the ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations (AFEO); an ASEAN Engineer (AE)-Advance Level Engineer (Private Entities) and ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (ACPE)-Advance Level Engineer (Government Entities); Chairman Emeritus of the Philippine Council of Engineers and Architects (PCEA-KSA); Founding President of the Riyadh chapter of the Institute of Electronics Engineers of the Philippines (IECEP); and Filipino ASEAN Chartered Professional Engineer (FACPE)-Advance Level Engineer (Government Entities).

Prior to his PRC award, Engr. Balboa was awarded on October 29, 2016, as the Most Outstanding Electronics Engineer by the IECEP at its Annual General Membership and Convention. He had also been awarded the Presidential Citation by the Philippine Technological Council in September 2016, and was also recognized as one of the Western Union “Heroes for Better” Awardee, as an Outstanding Filipino Migrant Professional in Saudi Arabia. The PRC itself had awarded him in 2015 for his Outstanding Achievement as a Migrant Filipino Professional.